USF unveils Big East men's basketball schedule

USF has released the dates for its third season in the Big East under coach Stan Heath, with the home schedule opening with Notre Dame and closing with Connecticut.

The first four games are all doozies -- at Louisville, home against Notre Dame, at Syracuse and home against West Virginia. Then a more manageable stretch, with Rutgers, at Cincinnati, at Providence, then home against Seton Hall -- all four of those finished eighth or lower in the Big East last season.

Then another really killer stretch -- Pittsburgh, at Georgetown, at Notre Dame, at Marquette -- then back-to-back home games against Cincinnati and St. John's.

The Louisville game is USF's first December conference game since joining the Big East in 2005.

The Bulls are hoping to improve on a 4-14 mark last season, returning guards Dominique Jones and Chris Howard and forward Gus Gilchrist, with a talented class of newcomers led by junior center Jarrid Famous.

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